Games and Level Design.

As Content Developer and Lead Developer on Runescape for over 8 years I’ve created some well known projects. Here are a few of my favourites.

Myreque Quest series

A dark and gritty four part quest series where the player aids a rag tag party of freedom fighters called the ‘Myreque’ who are resisting the brooding vampiric forces within the realm of Morytania.

The player begins by unwittingly leading the head of the vampiric security forces to the Myreque base which culminates with the deaths of two freedom fighters.

However, the player soon makes good, going on to aid the Myreque, leading intrepid missions into the vampire home realms and finally becoming a decorated member of the Myreque.

This quest series so far comprises :-

* Part 1 : In Search of the Myreque.
* Part 2 : In Aid of the Myreque.
* Part 3 : Darkness of Hallowvale.
* Part 4 : Legacy of Seergaze.

See the Runescape forumswhere players are speculating on what part 5 of the Myreque Quest series will involve.

See the player generated Wikia for the walk-through of Myreque part 4 : Legacy of Seergaze.

—– oOo —–

While Guthix Sleeps

This Grandmaster level quest, the first of its kind in Runescape, ties up a series of earlier overarching story lines.

The quest challenges very high level players with well balanced combat, avatar based skill challenges and fiendish puzzles. The player experiences an intricate, subtly foreshadowed story that forever changes the game world, etching the player’s name into Runescape lore.

The player faces off against one of the main adversaries in the game ‘Lucien’, an immortal who raises his abilities in summoning to a new unholy level; the outcome is the terrifying ‘Tortured Demon’.

This end of level boss is just one of the adversaries I designed for this epic quest. A ‘Tortured Demon’ isn’t able to return to its normal plane of existence once it has been defeated, instead its supernatural healing abilities are constantly rebuilding its charred and burning flesh. The power to summon this creature, while intense, is but a fraction of the unholy fury it brings to battle due to the overwhelming pain of its continued existence.

This Quest received a huge amount of positive feedback from the players on our community forums and is still considered one of the best quests in the game in terms of overalls storyline, boss fights and puzzles.

See the player generated Wikia for the walk-through of ‘While Guthix Sleeps’.

—– oOo —–

Shades of Mort’ton

This piece of content was another first in Runescape, a player versus Npc mini-game introduced through a quest. The town of Mort’ton is plagued by the spectral souls (Shades) of those buried underground.

The player can defeat Shades but gains no drop rewards and cannot bury the remains for Prayer skill experience; these creatures are obviously keeping their rewards well hidden!

However, with some detective work and pertinent questions asked of the locals the player soon learns about an ancient fire temple on the periphery of the township.

The player is tasked with rebuilding the temple using local building materials and the help from fellow players. As soon as the temple starts to be rebuilt, the Shades in the area attack the temple trying to tear it down again; and the race is on! Players can opt to fight the Shades or rebuild the temple, they get advantages for both tasks.

Once the temple is rebuilt a sacred flame can be lit. Using a vial of olive oil on the sacred flame turns it into sacred oil allowing the Shade remains to be cremated. The Shade’s achieve eternal peace and the player some well earned rewards.

Watch a player generated YouTube Guide on the Shades of Mort’ton Mini-game.

—– oOo —–

Fairy Tale III – Battle at Orks Rift

This final quest in the series had to answer lots of questions, deliver a dramatic punch and culminate in a suitably impressive boss fight.

Many of the quests in Runescape are known for their upbeat quirky sense of humour, the fairytale quest series is a primary example of this. The Fairy Queen has been deposed by the nefarious Fairy Godfather (complete with fake Italian accent).

The player discovers the symbiotic relationship between fairies and all things ‘tooth’ based; even growing their own brutal bicuspid allies from pure tooth material.

Once the player has mastered these tooth growing abilities he sets off to challenge the Fairy Godfather; tactically splitting his time between growing his allies, healing them when they’re wounded and using direct combat methods.

At the time of release, this was one of the most tactically engaging boss battles in the game. Keeping the allies alive was essential to succeeding. Targeting enemies with unique abilities could change the whole experience in the later part of the battle, allowing the player that level of choice was somewhat unique in what is usually a very linear game play experience.

See the player generated Wikia walk-through of Fairy Tale 3 : Battle at Orks Rift.

Thanks for the message and what a fine compliment to be considered one of the best developers on the team!

It was my own personal decision to move on from Runescape, and what a tough decision it was. Although I had a tremendous time at Jagex and I worked with some truly awesome people, I felt it was time to branch out and develop my skills with industry standard tools and processes.

I really loved working on every project but especially the Myreque quest storyline which I developed from the very start and had such great plans for. However, I have a lot more stories to tell and I look forward to a time when I can realise them as they were meant to be enjoyed. Until then, it’s on with the studying and keeping a keen eye out for good opportunities!

You and the great quests you developed for RS will always be remembered… so many funny little things that made them richly full of fun. omg how i miss the beautiful fairie land, hunting with a pig, and gulping while preparing for your monster battles! You made my gaming an entertaining, imaginative, interesting world to be in. Blessings 2 ya!

Now that you’re not working on the project, can you reveal whether the latest Myreque quest was done based on your notes or individually? If it was a new direction, can you at least give us a hint as to what your vision of the finale was? I understand if you can’t, but you can never help but wonder what if.

Well, it’s really nice to think that new players are still able to experience the Myreque storyline.

As far as I know the most recent version of the Myreque storyline is a departure from what I had originally planned. There are many reasons why this would happen; in the first instance a new developer wants to stamp their own mark on the project.

Also, the longer term aims of the Runescape team need to be considered and there was a great deal of enthusiasm for finalising existing stories and making larger projects more manageable. There was possibly the desire to reduce complexity; to contain and clarify the quest series and make the area of Morytania less daunting for new, younger players.

I can understand your curiosity regarding the original storyline and the finale, but this was always going to be open to change, even if I had continued writing the quest series. I left all Myreque plans with the Runescape team so no doubt they will follow them if they want to. To that end I cannot reveal them because they may yet be used! 🙂

I think that really interesting stories, ones which create dramatic impact, are messy and confusing at times because that’s often the nature of relationships. We may not know all that is going on in the quest at that moment, but we get that itch at the back of the brain as we sense a pattern emerging. Also, we’re given sufficient information to genuinely solve the problem ourselves before the solution is given us; but still experience a sense of awe as the scale of a dramatic twist is revealed.

I’m sure the Myreque quest series will go on and give lots of people a great deal of fun, I’m glad I had a hand in it and I wish all who work on it best of luck and best wishes.